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Almost 50% of local mobile searches concern information like an address or business hours. Meanwhile, almost 50% of all Google searches are local.
Are you struggling to reach your local customers? If you want to boost foot traffic to your store, check your Google My Business (GMB) listing. Your GMB listing provides consumers with the information they need.
If you don't have a GMB listing, you're missing an opportunity to reach and inform customers.
Need to claim your business on Google? Keep reading! With this guide, you'll have the tips you need to complete the process with ease.
Once you learn how to claim your business on Google, you can reach more customers and generate more traffic. Get started with this helpful guide today!
If you haven't claimed your business yet, you might wonder why you need one. Here are a few reasons to learn how to claim your business on Google right away.
About 86% of consumers rely on the internet to find local businesses. In fact, almost 30% of consumers look for local businesses once a week.
Meanwhile, 86% of people look up the location of a business using Google Maps.
Once you claim your business on Google, you can provide consumers with the information they're looking for. Your Google My Business listing will show them your:
Consumers shouldn't have to wonder whether your business is open or not. Don't force them to drive to your store. If they find you're closed, they might get frustrated and choose another business.
Instead, you can use your GMB listing to give your consumers relevant, up-to-date information.
Did you temporarily close after COVID hit? Did you expand your services or fully reopen? With your Google My Business listing, you can post easy updates.
Then, you can reduce missed opportunities and negative customer experiences. You won't have to risk letting down customers anymore. Instead, they'll find the information they need with ease.
Once you claim business on Google, you can show on-the-fence consumers reviews from your happy customers. Gathering customer reviews can build your online reputation. Consumers will see that people already love and trust your business.
You can then influence buying behaviors to attract new customers in the future!
Building a customer review strategy is essential to your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. As you gather more reviews, your search ranking will grow. A higher ranking can help you reach even more customers online!
Meanwhile, you can grow brand trust and loyalty, too. If people trust your business, they'll come back for more.
You can then retain long-term customers to improve your ROI.
If you don't claim your business on Google, you're giving competitors a chance to get ahead. Consumers will find your competitors' GMB listings online. You'll miss an opportunity to draw those customers to your business.
Instead, you're making it easier for your competitors to grow.
Learning how to claim your Google My Business listing can benefit your SEO strategy. You'll gain more real estate on Google search pages. In fact, your GMB listing will take up prominent space at the top of the page.
Consumers will see your listing before any organic results. You can then draw them to your business!
The Google My Business marketing site saw a nearly 2x increase in organic traffic within a single year. More people are relying on GMB listings to find relevant business information.
In fact, the average business gets about 59 actions from their GMB listing every month. That's 59 opportunities you have to reach new customers.
People can click on a link to your website straight from your GMB listing. Then, you can increase traffic to your website, which can boost your SEO ranking. Remember, a higher ranking will position you in front of more customers!
Consumers might not trust your business if you don't have a GMB listing. In fact, customers are 70% more likely to visit a business with a listing. Once you claim your business, you can generate more brand confidence.
Consumers will have an easier time trusting your business, helping you boost sales.
Now that we've covered the benefits of claiming your GMB listing, let's get started. Here's how to claim your business on Google.
First, make sure you have a Google account for your business. Don't use your personal Google Account. Instead, have a dedicated account for your company.
When you create a Google account, you have the option to create the account "to manage my business." Make sure to choose that option.
Your business profile is the official term for your GMB listing. Your business profile is separate from your GMB account, though. You can have a business profile without a GMB account.
If you didn't create one, there's a chance you already have a profile.
Check Google Maps here. Then, search for your business name. If your business populates in the drop-down with an address, you already have a profile.
If it doesn't populate, you should see "Add a missing place." Click that button and provide the requested information.
You'll need to claim your business profile using your GMB account.
Go to google.com/business and click "manage now." Then, provide Google with your:
You can further optimize your GMB account for SEO purposes.
Once you create your GMB account, you'll need to connect it to your business profile. This process isn't automatic. Instead, you'll need to tell Google to connect them.
In order to connect your GMB account and business profile, you need to verify you own the business.
First, locate your business profile on Google Maps. Then, request to claim the business.
Does your business appear as a Google My Business listing already? If you haven't verified ownership, you should see an "Own this business?" button.
You can select that button to reach another screen. Then, click "Manage now."
You can also verify your business through Google Maps. Find your business profile and click "Claim this business." Then, click "Manage now."
Once you've clicked the "Manage now" button, you can verify ownership of your business.
Google will ask you to provide information that proves you're the rightful owner of the business. If you're logged into your GMB account, Google might validate you immediately. If you didn't create your business profile, you might need a verification code.
You'll enter the verification code into your Google Business dashboard.
You might receive the code through regular mail, text, or email.
Once you enter the code in, you'll receive ownership of your profile on Google. Then, you can optimize your account to improve your local SEO strategy!
Did you recently open a new location? Maybe you need to add other locations to your new business profile.
First, head to your Google My Business dashboard. Then, click "Manage locations" from the left-hand menu.
You should see a blue "Add location" button on the right side. Click that and type your business name in. Then, click "Create a new business with this name."
You'll need to fill in the requested information. Then, request verification.
You can also go to Google Maps. From there, drop a pin on the location you want to add. You should see an option to "Add a missing place."
Once you file in the details, you can click "Claim this business."
Do you have over 10 business locations? Great! Add them in bulk to save valuable time.
It's not enough to claim business on Google.
Once you claim a business on Google, it's time to start optimizing! Optimizing your Google My Business listing will improve your search ranking. Then, you can reach even more customers and generate more business.
Your business will appear when someone searches for your product or service. Google determines local rankings based on relevance, distance, and prominence.
Relevance indicates how well your listing matches the consumer's search. Distance indicates how far your location is from the searcher's location. Prominence indicates how well-known your business is.
You can improve your prominence by gathering customer reviews.
You can optimize your profile by:
If your phone number, address, or hours change, update your listing right away. Remember, you want to provide customers with relevant information.
You can use a review management tool to request and manage the reviews you receive.
Ready to give your business a boost? Claim your business on Google today! With this guide, you can claim your business and optimize your listing.
By providing consumers with the information they need, you can draw more customers to your business.
Once you claim business on Google, you need to optimize your listing with reviews. We can help.
Discover how to grow your reviews and your business today!
Get more online reviews on any online review site using our automated review system.
